We all know that the land that is now the Historic Solano Canyon community was purchased by Francisco Solano in 1866. So how was there a Solano Canyon in 1850? (The ravine was there, of course, but it didn't have a name in 1850.)

The answer is: there wasn't. But this "... photograph of an accurate model of Los Angeles in 1850 ..." provides us with a rare opportunity to envision the land that eventually did become Solano Canyon — 16 years later.

Here is the original image as the author found it online, with no annotations; see how many Los Angeles-area features you can locate and name. There are at least nine prominent features, with a tenth that is tantalizingly suggestive. Many more features can probably be found as well.

Uncredited image

So, how did you do? I'll tell you that I only found four; but here is the same photograph, this time annotated to locate the nine features that were identified in the notes for the photograph. I've added that 'tantalizingly suggestive' tenth feature and marked it with a question mark.

Uncredited image [Annotated by the author]

A word of explanation: The original image, above — the one at the top of the blog — was found on the Water and Power Associates website. The image is 'credited' there to yet another website, but the author was unable to find it there at all. And what is meant by "... photograph of an accurate model of Los Angeles in 1850 ..."? Is this a photograph of a model? If it is, then it is a highly-detailed one, because it looks like a photograph to me. But if it is a photograph, from where was it taken? A balloon, perhaps?

In any case, it's an interesting exercise, I think, and I hope you had fun with it.

About the Author

Lawrence Bouett is a retired research scientist and registered professional engineer who now conducts historical and genealogical research full-time. A ninth-generation Californian, his primary historical research interests are Los Angeles in general and the Stone Quarry Hills in particular. His ancestors arrived in California with Portolá in 1769 and came to Los Angeles from Mission San Gabriel with the pobladores on September 4, 1781.